Photo Courtesy Janet Schultz/NY Hockey Online
Then there were four.
KenGI, NiCo and FLOP all won their quarterfinals games and will join top seed Williamsville in the Section VI semifinals that due to the most recent winter blast has been pushed to Monday night at Cornerstone Arena in Lockport.
No. 1 Williamsville vs. No. 4 FLOP (6 p.m.) Sign up to watch the game live
Williamsville, which drew a bye in the opening round, is led by the explosive duo of Vanessa Willick and Aizah-Roze Thompson.
Eighth grader Allison Besancon is also a player to watch.
The Willy defense is anchored by the M&M Girls, Molly Martin and Diana Martucci.
FLOP punched its ticket to the next round after a heartstopping 5-4 overtime win over CASH.
FLOP was rolling with 10 straight wins but had a little hiccup after dropping its last two regular season games to Monsignor Martin and KenGI.
But knocking off CASH, the team coaches off the record said they didn’t want to play in the opening round, shows without question the FLOP ladies have regained that rhythm that made them so unstoppable during that winning streak.
Katie Dougherty will pace the offense. While Sam Torgerson, Emery Fitzery and Jocelyn Smaczniak are the core of a solid defense in front of goalie Karrigan McCarthy.
No. 2 Ken/GI v.s. No. 3 NiCo (8 p.m.) Sign up to watch the game live
My oh my what a game this should be.
KenGI brings an offense that is insanely loaded. The multi-pronged attack features Bella Jayme, Madison Flory, Izzy Bourgeault, Carissa Buyea Emiliana Cassillo and eighth grader Teagan Willats.
Between the pipes is junior Carolyn Bourgeault who has gotten better each week.
This game has the interesting dynamic of KenGI having won both regular season meetings.
But they know that wins in the regular season doesn’t guarantee a post season win.
“NiCo is a tough team and each game was really close. We have to bring 100% effort even though we beat them in the regular season,” said Carissa Buyea.
“We have to bring our game and each game from here on out is going to be a tough battle.”
Niagara County is ready for the next step as they slayed their Dragon by beating HEWS, the team that eliminated them last year.
Sweet redemption, this was also NiCo’s first playoff win.
As sweet as the win over HEWS was NiCo knows that have to quickly focus on KenGI.
“Beating HEWS was a great feeling of redemption. As my team and I move into round 2 it is a bittersweet feeling getting to play Kengi again,” said senior forward Kayla Persinger.
“Being the only team we haven’t beat yet I know every girl on my team wants nothing more than to beat them. Kengi is a great skating team they move the puck well. On the other hand, this being the third time we play them we have learned their weakness and strengths and have talked about the best way to capitalize on their weaknesses. (It) will be a great game. But I know my team is on a run of redemption and we won’t be taking anyone lightly!!”
Along with Persinger the Lady Warriors will look to smooth skating Madison Mallone and eighth grader Sam Latini to generate offense while Natalie Ponzi and Skylar Berube hold down the fort on the blue line.
Mariela Mulready also has what it takes to step up and steal a win.
The Section VI Championship game will be played Tuesday, 6 p.m. at Cornerstone Arena in Lockport. The Private School Championship game between St. Mary’s and Monsignor Martin will follow.
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